In Your Garden: Spreading chestnut trees

The cold, crisp days of fall are the time when spiny chestnut balls pop open to reveal the sweet nuts inside ready to be roasted, or cooked and made into delightful stuffings and desserts. The trees that grow these delicious nuts are large and spreading and make fine shade trees, growing 40 to 50 feet tall and wide.?

Only a century ago, the American chestnut was one of the most prized of the eastern hardwoods, and king of the eastern forests. Because its wood was durable and rot-resistant, it was used for home siding and shingles, furniture and fencing, telephone poles and railway lines.

Once known as the sequoia of the east, the American chestnut was one of the tallest trees in the forest, and dominated a range of 300,000 square miles, from Mississippi to Maine. It made up 25 percent of the forest, and its annual nut crop was a major source of food for both animals and humans.?

The chestnut blight was introduced from Asia in 1904. Within 50 years, the blight had laid waste to nearly the entire population of some 4 billion trees. Fortunately, this disease does not occur west of the Rocky Mountains.

Four species of chestnuts have been grown in the West: European, American, Chinese and Japanese chestnuts. There are also hybrids which do very well here. One of them is named "Colossal," for the extra large nuts it bears. It is a cross between European and Japanese chestnuts and will grow to about 60 feet and 25 to 35 feet wide. The nuts are sweet and easy to peel and they dry and store well. It makes a fine, fast-growing tree.?

Two varieties of chestnuts, or two seedling trees are needed to insure pollination. Grafted trees will begin bearing in two to three years, and seedlings in five to seven years. A mature tree will produce hundreds of pounds of nuts each year in October and November. 'Nevada' makes a good pollenizer for "Colossal." It has a soft shell with sweet, flavorful nuts.

Chestnuts are beautiful trees. Their long, toothed, green leaves turn golden yellow in the fall. Flowers grow in long, slender clusters that completely cover the tree with sweet-smelling, creamy-pink sprays in June or July. Trees live for hundreds of years and grow well on poor but well-drained sites such as those where pine trees do well.

The nuts are rich in sugar and starch, but unlike other nuts, they are low in fat. When chestnuts drop to the ground, they should be gathered every day wearing gloves to protect your hands from the prickly burrs. (These prickly hulls deter squirrels and rodents from gathering the nuts before you.) You can store nuts in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several months.

Chestnuts are highly nutritious and certainly belong on the list of healthy foods you can grow yourself.?

Gardening tips

Apples, pears, peaches and plums are still available as bare-root trees, but only for a short while longer. Start your orchard now!

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and other cool season crops should be planted this month for delicious spring harvests.

Prune wisteria trees and vines by cutting out unwanted long runners and removing old seed pods. Don't damage flower buds that are clustered at the end of short branches.

Potatoes can be planted this month. Plant red, white, yellow and russet potatoes for a variety of uses and flavors.

Prune Hydrangeas now by removing old flower heads down to the first new leaves. Do not prune stems that have no old flowers; they will bloom first this summer.